"It is only when we transcend the limits of ordinary
biological man that we can come in contact with pure personality
which Upanisadas call Atman or the self. This pure self is one in
all and is identical with the highest reality of the Universe. It
is pure spirituality and pure experience (Jnana) and as such, the
absolute concrete Truth. Self is the ultimate reality and
experiences are extraneous to it."

Jainism sees the whole universe as a great cosmic mechanism
with its own self propelling force', and we being a part of
that mechanism, our religion' consists of conducting
ourselves in harmony with that mechanism is and how it works.

This brings to us many questions of metaphysical importance,
viz., who created this universe and who sustains it ? Are our
destinies governed by some outside force or is there any other
set of rules which govern our fate ?

The man, in his pursuit to seek answers to these questions
seems to have evolved the concept of God. Some believe that
God' has created this universe and sustains it. It is
further believed that the man is punished for his sins-the
original of which commenced with Adam and, Eve tasting the
forbidden fruit. They do not believe in the theory of
trans-migration of soul but contend that a day of reckoning will
come when everyone will be alive from his grave to receive God's
judgement for his good and bad deeds in this life. This is the
occidental idea of an everlasting individual personality as
conceived by Greeks and passed on to Christianity. the redemption
of every individual according to the view lies in offering
sincere repentance and prayers to be relieved of sins.

Some philosophers are more sophisticated in their explanation
about the existence of the Divine. There are two principal
schools of thought --One is ontological and the other is
cosmological. As will be seen hereafter, both these schools come
to the conclusion that the scheme of the universe is finally
sustained and controlled by some outside divine force, the
ultimate cause and hence the ultimate truth.

The Jaina approach is totally different. It has no place for
God as the creator or sustainer of this universe. In Jainism
there is no outside force, regulating prizes and punishment. A
soul, liberated completely from the bondage of karmas, is
all-knowing, all-powerful, omniscient and possesses all the
attributes of what we understand by the expression God'.
Pleasure and pains of life are the result of ones own actions
called Karmas and as result of these Karmas every
soul takes rebirth and proceeds further in its journey towards
liberation. In Jainism, as in other Indian religious systems,
individual personality has always been regarded as a transitory
mask as the whole Jaina philosophy is based on the existence of
the duality of Jiva and Ajiva, Spirit and Matter. The spirit
survives even after the matter appears to decay and dies. This
leads Jainas to the theory of re-incarnation and rebirth in
accordance with he Karmas (actions) of the past births. Even your
good actions bind you if they are done with a motive to gain
rewards. Law of Karma is inexonerable but one can destroy his
Karmas to be free from their bondage by one's own efforts. There
is no outside element, to drag you out of this bondage. The great
seers and prophets can guide you and point out to you the path of
redemption but ultimately it is for you to find out the path
suitable to you and to start walking on that path by conviction,
courage and fortitude.

This approach of Jainism has earned for itself a comment that
is atheistic.

Is Jainism atheistic ? Before answering this question, it
would be necessary to know what is atheistic'. If theism
consists only in the belief in a personal or impersonal God as
creator and sustainer of this universe, then certainly Jainism is
atheistic as it does not believe that this universe is created
and shaped by some personal or impersonal entity called God. Nor
do the Jainas believe that rendition of justice for the good or
bad deeds of human beings is at the mercy of some capricious will
or whim of the Divine.

Approach of Jaina philosophers to this question is purely
rational. While they flatly reject the notion of a supremely
authoritative God, it does not reject God-head itself. It studies
the component elements of the whole Universe, scrutinises the
true nature and character of each, analyses their effect on the
evolution of life, tries to find out the ultimate goal of the
progression, and by a very subtle and logical process of
metaphysics, shows the way to achieve God-hood. It has innate
faith in the capacity of the spirit, the creative force called
Atman' to achieve God-hood and makes no distinction between
the potentially of the creative force inherent in a blade of
grass and the one inherent in humanly frame of Mahavira, the last
and the most distinguished Tirthankara (Prophet) of our times, to
achieve the final God-hood. It emphasises that the achievement of
God-hood does not depend upon the favours of any agency outside
your own self, and each soul (Atman) can achieve the same by his
own understanding and efforts. What is required is the will to
exert.

Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics' makes distinction
between naive atheism and philosophical atheism. If this
distinction is accepted, one can say that Jainism believes in
philosophical atheism. This is obviously different from gross
materialism. The difference consists in the Jaina conviction, and
outcome of a serious philosophical speculation, and not a naive
refusal to believe what cannot be visualized. Heinrich Zimmer
rightly observes that Jainism is not atheistic but is
trans-theistic.

Indian tradition uses the word Nastika', i.e.,
non-believer or atheistic three senses, viz. (1) Disbelief in the
theory of karman and the life beyond, (2) Disbelief in God and
(3) Disbelief in the ultimate authority of Vedas. It is the
second and third sense in which some Hindu thinkers have labelled
Jainism as atheistic. Strictly speaking, it would be only in the
third sense that Jainas may be called atheistic because Jainas do
not believe in the finality of Vedas. Mahaviras dialogue
with his first disciples called Ganadharas' shows that the
teacher has not totally disclaimed the Vedas, but has tried to
explain some of their aspects by putting his own interpretation.
So far as the second sense is concerned, it is the Carvaka school
which would fall within its category because the carvakas do not
believe either in the theory of karma or rebirth. There is the
total denial of all that cannot be apprehended by senses.

It is pertinent to note that in the Indian system of
philosophical thoughts, Jaina thinkers were not the only ones who
denied the existence of a supreme God. Nyaya and Vaisesika
systems were originally atheistic and became theistic only after
their fusion. Sankhya also denied the existence of God and hence
it is referred to as Nirisvara', i.e., Godless. Thus the
rejection of the idea of a supreme authority outside ones
own-self as shaping the destiny of the whole universe is rejected
by some of the most important schools of philosophers in the
process of evolution of Indian metaphysics.

Then the question which naturally arises is how do the Jainas
explain the origin and governance of Universe ? What is the
Raison detre' of this existence ? Jaina system maintains
that the universe is without beginning or an end. It broadly
classifies the universe into two categories, viz. (1) Jiva (soul)
and (2) Ajiva (non-soul). Jiva is the creative spirit, the
motivating force, the consciousness which pervades even in the
things which are apparently immobile and inanimate. Ajiva is the
matter non-sentient, non-motivating and non-conscious. This
elements of Ajiva is the world which is in existence outside the
I' element. Every living being has the consciousness of
I'. This I' exists inspite of the fundamental changes
in the shape and character of its body. This body undergoes many
changes from birth to childhood, then to youth and to old age and
finally to death but I' consciousness remains the same.
That consciousness is that of Jiva'. The rest is
Ajiva'. If we analyse all the objects of this universe, we
shall come across these two broad classifications of Jiva'
and Ajiva'.

According to Jaina philosophers both these elements of the
universe are eternal and ever existent. They are not created by
any one and they operate by their own force, action and
interaction. This interaction between these two every existing
and eternal elements of universe supplies motivating force,
consciousness and push of Jiva to Ajiva. The result is the large
and amazing varieties and activities of objects in the universe.

Obviously, this line of reasoning rules out the necessity of a
creator or a sustainer of the universe, because according to in
the universe is an incomprehensible automation and the work of a
philosopher is only to find out and understand the secrets of
this automation. Religion, according to Jainism does not consist
of any ritual but is only an attempt to adjust yourself properly
in the mechanism of this automation. As Dr. S. Radhakrishnan puts
it, "the Jaina view is that the whole universe of being, of
mental and material factors has existed from all eternity,
undergoing an infinite number of revolutions produced by the
powers of nature without the intervention of any external
deity."

The concept of the absolute matter, creator and sustainer of
the Universe is born out of human experience that everything
tangible and intangible is the result of causation and creativity
and therefore there must be some ultimate cause or a creator from
whom everything else has resulted. This line of reasoning has led
the human mind to various type of philosophical speculations and
approaches. It may not be illogical or irrational to think that
there must be some coordinating force which is transcending the
material world and human understanding. But Belief in this
transcendental co-ordinating energy has led mataphysics to the
discovery of an all powerful and all embracing Divine soul. All
the objects of universe are subject to its ordinance and will. It
is ultimate and real cause of all things tangible and intangible
experienced in life. Thinkers have adopted two well-known
approaches ontological and cosmological. Ontology is metaphysics
concerned with essence of things or being in the abstract.
Cosmological approach accepts the law of causality or the
principal of Sufficient reason'. To ontological approach
God is real as there is some force beyond our minds and ideas. He
is "That than which nothing greater can be conceived"
(St. Anselm). The starting point for cosmological approach is not
God but are wordly objects, it states that every existing thing
or feature, we encounter in the universe must have a cause or
reason. There must be something else which has brought it into
existence. This something else' is itself an effect or
result of some prior cause. If, say the cosmologists, you go on
tracing this link of effect and its cause, you must ultimately
conclude that there is one final reality, the root cause of all
effects, and it has sufficient reason within itself. This
approach historically goes back to Aristotle's argument that
there must be an unmoved cause' of motion.

Jaina thinkers hold both these views to be true only
partially. To Jainas, the conclusions drawn by these two views
leave much to be desired from logical point of view. Having once
accepted the existence of some force beyond our mind and ideas,
it is of no use to claim further that this force can be realised
through the cultivation and development of spiritual potentiality
inherent in ourself.

Thou art that' (Tattavamasi) is as much the call of the
Jainas as that of the Upanisadas. Western ontologists have failed
to recognise this. With regard to cosmological approach, the
Jainas fully adhere the theory of causation, being most vocal
advocates of the theory of Karman. They would, however, disagree
with the cosmologists that root cause of all effects is external
to our own self. Jainism maintains you are your own cause and
your own effect and it is by your own effort and exertion that
you can reap results, good or bad. If there is an ultimate cause,
it is within you and not outside you. You are, therefore, your
own master, your own God. You are not servile or subservient to
any outside agency. Finality is your own potential. As
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad puts it :

"Whoever worships God as other than the self, thinking.
He is one and I am another, knows not." Bhagavadgita also
recognises this truth wherein Lord says -- "Isvarah sarva
bhutanam hrddeserjuna tisthati." Oh Arjuna, God dwells in
the heart of every being. Aristotle uttered a great truth,
To be happy means to be self sufficient'. Salvation,
according to Jain seers, is not a gift of capricious gods, but is
to be won by earnest seeking and self discipline. Man, according
to them is the sole and absolute master of his fate; but so long
as his vision is clouded by ignorance, resulting in attachments,
envy and arrogance, he is not able to see the path of freedom. If
he is found fettered by chains, these chains are of his own
forging, and by proper efforts, only he can rend them asunder.

The Indian philosophical system of Nyaya' is very much
akin to the thinking of Western ontological philosophers on this
point. Jaina reply to Nyaya philosophers is that if God, as an
outside and over powering force, is taken as the creator and
sustainer of the universe on the analogy of the effects having
intelligent human causes, then even God, like human beings must
be presumed to be imperfect having all human desires of creation,
fun and frolic. Moreover, many questions such as the creator of
God and reason for the creation of universe by God and why God
should take trouble of dispensing justice, etc, remained
unanswered.

Albert Einstein, the greatest physicist of our age rightly
observes with reference to the idea of existence of an
omnipotent, just and omni-beneficient personal God as under :

"... ... if this being is omnipotent, then every
occurrence, including every human action, every human thought and
every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it
possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and
thoughts before such an almighty being ? In giving out punishment
and rewards. He would to a certain extent be passing judgement on
Himself. How can this be continued with the goodness and
righteousness ascribed to Him ?"

Jainas have, attempted to examine the root of the whole
universal existence and have concluded that each individual soul
is responsible for his own fate and that everything in the
universe is eternal. Science also tells us that the matter is
indestructible. It may change form but essence remains the same.
That is exactly what Jainas say---

Soul, according to Jainas, is clouded by karmic action of
matter on account of its association with the matter from time
immemorial. But by proper efforts it can become free from the
bondage of karma and achieve its pristine purity by becoming
itself all knowing and all powerful, sans aspirations and sans
desire. It is then all bliss, peace and joy (Sat Cit Ananda). It
is its own creation and it is the ultimate Reality.